Part 28
Scripture then draws reasons for exhorting us from all God's benefits and from every part of our salvation.
Since God has given himself to us as our Father, we stand convicted of shameful ingratitude if we do not conduct ourselves as his children.
Since Christ has purified us by the washing of his blood and communicated this cleansing to us through Baptism, it is not fitting that we should defile ourselves again with fresh uncleanness.
Since he has joined and grafted us into his body, we must take diligent care not to contaminate ourselves in any way, seeing that we are his members.
Since Christ, our Head, has ascended into heaven, we must lay aside every earthly affection and aspire with our whole heart to the heavenly life.
Since the Holy Spirit has consecrated us to be temples of God, we must strive to have God's glory exalted in us and guard against admitting any pollution.
Since our souls and bodies are destined for the immortality of God's kingdom and the incorruptible crown of his glory, we must strive to preserve both pure and undefiled until the day of the Lord.
These are sound and suitable foundations for ordering our lives well, and nothing comparable to them will be found among all the philosophers. For when they seek to show man his duty, they never rise higher than an explanation of his natural dignity.
I must now address those who possess nothing of Christ except the name, yet nevertheless desire to be regarded as Christians. But how dare they glory in his sacred name, since no one has fellowship with him except the person who has rightly known him through the word of the gospel?
Saint Paul denies that anyone has received a true knowledge of Christ unless he has learned to put off the old man, who is corrupted by disorderly desires, and to be clothed with Christ.
You have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off the old man, which is corrupted according to deceitful desires, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which is created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.
—Ephesians 4:20–24
It is therefore evident that such people falsely claim to know Christ and greatly dishonor him by doing so, however eloquently they may speak of him. For the gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue but of life. It must not merely be grasped by the understanding and memory, as other branches of learning are, but must entirely possess the soul and establish its seat and dwelling place in the depths of the heart. Otherwise, it has not been rightly received.
Let them therefore either cease dishonoring God by boasting that they are what they are not, or show themselves to be disciples of Christ.
We have rightly assigned the first place in religion to doctrine because it is the beginning of our salvation. But if that doctrine is to become useful and fruitful to us, it must penetrate deeply into the heart and display its power in our lives—indeed, it must transform us into its own nature.
If the philosophers have good reason to be angry with those who profess their art, which they call the mistress of life, yet reduce it to sophistical chatter, how much greater reason do we have to detest those babblers who are content to carry the gospel upon their lips while despising it throughout their lives?
Its power ought to penetrate the deepest recesses of the heart and become rooted in the soul a hundred thousand times more firmly than all philosophical exhortations, which possess little force by comparison.
I do not require that the conduct of a Christian should be nothing but the gospel in complete purity and perfection, although this is certainly to be desired and pursued. Yet I do not demand Christian perfection with such strictness and severity that I refuse to recognize anyone as a Christian unless he has already attained it.
If I did, every person in the world would be excluded from the Church, since not one can be found who is not still far from such perfection, even though some have made considerable progress, while the greater part have advanced only a little. Yet they must not therefore be rejected.
What, then, is required? We must keep continually before our eyes the goal toward which all our actions are to be directed: that we
should strive after the perfection God commands. We must labor and aspire to reach it.
For we are not permitted to bargain with God, receiving one part of what he commands in his word while leaving another aside according to our own preference. Above all, he always commends integrity to us. By this word he means a pure simplicity of heart, free and cleansed from all pretense and opposed to a divided heart.
Yet while we remain in this earthly prison, none of us is so strong and well prepared that he runs this race with the proper swiftness. Indeed, the greater part are so weak and feeble that they stagger and limp and can make little progress.
Let each of us therefore advance according to his limited ability, and let us not cease pursuing the path upon which we have begun. No one will walk so poorly that he cannot advance a little each day and gain some ground.
Let us therefore never cease striving to make continual progress in the way of the Lord, nor lose courage because our progress is small. Although our advancement does not answer to our desire, our labor is not lost when today surpasses yesterday.
Let us only keep our goal before us with pure and upright simplicity and strive to reach our destination. Let us not flatter ourselves with vain excuses or indulge our faults, but labor without ceasing to become better day by day until we attain that supreme goodness which we must seek and pursue throughout our lives.
We shall fully possess it only when, stripped of the weakness of our flesh, we are made complete participants in it—that is, when God receives us into his fellowship.
Let us now come to the second point. Although the law of God possesses an excellent method and a well-ordered arrangement for directing our lives, it nevertheless seemed good to our gracious heavenly Master to form his people by a still more exact doctrine according to the rule he had given them in his law.
The beginning of this instruction is that the duty of believers is to present their bodies to God as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice, and that in this consists the rightful worship we are to render him.
Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God.
—Romans 12:1–2
From this follows the exhortation that believers should not conform themselves to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewal of their minds, so that they may seek and know the will of God.
It is already a matter of great importance to understand that we are consecrated and dedicated to God, so that henceforth we should think, speak, meditate upon, and do nothing except for his glory. For
what has been consecrated may not lawfully be applied to a profane use.
If we are not our own but belong to the Lord, it is therefore evident what we must do to avoid error and toward what end all the actions of our lives must be directed.
We are not our own; therefore, neither our reason nor our will should rule in our deliberations and actions.
We are not our own; therefore, let us not set before ourselves the goal of seeking what is advantageous to us according to the flesh.
We are not our own; therefore, let us forget ourselves and everything belonging to us as far as possible.
Again, we belong to the Lord; therefore, let us live and die to him.
Whether we live, we live to the Lord; and whether we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.
—Romans 14:8
We belong to the Lord; therefore, let his will and wisdom govern all our actions.
We belong to the Lord; therefore, let every part of our lives be directed toward him as its only end.
How greatly has that man advanced who, knowing that he is not his own, has removed the lordship and government of himself from his
own reason and surrendered it to God! For as the most destructive plague that can bring men to ruin is their desire to please themselves, so the only haven of salvation is neither to be wise in ourselves nor to desire anything from ourselves, but to follow the Lord alone.
Let this, therefore, be our first step: to withdraw from ourselves so that we may devote the whole strength of our understanding to the service of God.
By "service," I do not mean merely obedience to his word, but that the human understanding, emptied of its own wisdom, turns entirely toward the Spirit of God and submits itself to his direction.
This transformation, which Saint Paul calls the renewal of the mind, was unknown to all the philosophers, although it is the first entrance into life. They teach that reason alone should rule and govern man. They believe that reason alone must be heard and followed, and therefore entrust to it the whole government of life.
Christian philosophy, by contrast, requires reason to yield and withdraw so that it may give place to the Holy Spirit and be subdued under his guidance. Thus a man no longer lives from himself but possesses and permits Christ to live and reign within him.
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
—Galatians 2:20
From this follows the other part we have stated: that we should not seek the things that please us, but those that please God and serve to
exalt his glory.
This too is a great virtue: having almost forgotten ourselves—or at least having ceased to be preoccupied with ourselves—we faithfully devote our attention to following God and his commandments.
When Scripture forbids us to have particular regard for ourselves, it not only removes from our hearts greed, the desire to rule, the ambition to attain high honors or advantageous alliances, but also seeks to uproot every form of self-seeking, the appetite for human glory, and other hidden plagues.
The Christian must be so disposed that throughout his whole life he remembers that he has to do with God. Since he knows that he must render an account to God for all his works, he directs his whole intention toward him and keeps it fixed upon him. For whoever looks to God in all his works easily turns his mind away from every vain thought.
This is the self-denial which Christ so carefully requires of all his disciples as their first lesson. Once it possesses the human heart, it first drives out pride, arrogance, and ostentation; then greed, intemperance, excess, sensual indulgence, and all the other vices produced by self-love.
Where self-denial does not reign, a man either abandons himself shamelessly to every kind of wickedness or, if some appearance of virtue exists, it is corrupted by an evil desire for glory.
Show me a man who freely practices kindness toward others without having renounced himself according to the Lord's command. Those
who have lacked this disposition have, at the very least, sought praise while pursuing virtue.
Even the philosophers who have contended most earnestly that virtue should be desired for its own sake have been so swollen with pride and arrogance that it is evident they desired virtue for no other reason than to have grounds for exalting themselves.
So far are the ambitious, who seek worldly glory, and those who are bursting with inward conceit from being able to please God that he declares the former have already received their reward in this world, while the latter are further from the kingdom of God than tax collectors and prostitutes.
They have received their reward.
—Matthew 6:2
The tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of God before you.
—Matthew 21:31
Nevertheless, we have not yet clearly explained how many hindrances prevent man from devoting himself to doing good unless he first renounces himself.
It was truly said in ancient times that a whole world of vices lies hidden within the human soul. We shall find no other remedy than to renounce ourselves and, without regard for what pleases us, direct and devote our understanding to seeking what God requires of us— and to seek these things solely because they are pleasing to him.
We must observe that this self-denial concerns partly our relationship with other people and partly—indeed, chiefly—our relationship with God.
When Scripture commands us to conduct ourselves toward others by preferring them to ourselves in honor and faithfully seeking their welfare, it gives commands which our hearts are incapable of obeying unless they have first been emptied of their natural disposition.
For we are all so blinded and carried away by self-love that there is no one who does not imagine that he has good reason to exalt himself above everyone else and to despise the whole world in comparison with himself.
If God has given us some gift worthy of esteem, our hearts immediately exalt themselves under its pretext. We not only become puffed up but nearly burst with pride.
We carefully conceal from others the faults with which we are filled and persuade ourselves that they are small and insignificant. Sometimes we even take them for virtues. As for our gifts, we esteem them in ourselves to the point of admiring them.
If the same gifts appear in others—even in greater measure—we obscure or depreciate them as much as possible so that we will not be compelled to yield to them. Conversely, whatever faults exist in our neighbors, we are not content to scrutinize them severely but maliciously magnify them.
From this arises the insolence by which each of us, as though exempt from the common condition of humanity, desires preeminence above
everyone else and, without excepting anyone, despises all others as his inferiors.
The poor indeed yield to the rich, commoners to the nobility, servants to their masters, and the ignorant to the learned. Yet there is no one who does not harbor some notion in his heart that he deserves to be exalted above all others.
Thus each person, by flattering himself, nourishes a kingdom within his own heart. Attributing to himself whatever pleases him, he sits in judgment upon the minds and conduct of others. If a dispute arises, the poison then breaks forth and reveals itself.
Many display some appearance of gentleness and modesty so long as everything proceeds according to their liking. But how few preserve gentleness and modesty when they are provoked and irritated?
Indeed, it cannot be otherwise unless the deadly plague of loving and exalting oneself is torn from the depths of the heart, as Scripture itself tears it out.
If we listen to its teaching, we must remember that all the graces God has bestowed upon us are not our own possessions but free gifts of his generosity. Therefore, whoever becomes proud because of them displays his ingratitude.
On the other hand, by continually recognizing our faults, we must be brought to humility. Thus nothing will remain in us capable of making us proud; instead, we shall find abundant reason to humble and abase ourselves.
Furthermore, we are commanded to hold all the gifts of God that we see in our neighbors in such honor and reverence that, because of those gifts, we also honor the persons in whom they reside. For it would be shameful indeed to deprive a person of the honor God has bestowed upon him.
We are further commanded not to fix our eyes upon the faults of others, but to cover them—not by flattering them and thereby encouraging their faults, but so that we do not insult someone who has committed an offense, since we owe him love and honor.
From this it will follow that, whoever we may have to deal with, we shall conduct ourselves not only modestly and moderately, but also with gentleness and friendship. Conversely, no one will ever attain true meekness by any other way than by having his heart disposed to humble himself and honor others.
As for fulfilling our duty by seeking our neighbor's welfare, how difficult it is! Unless we set aside consideration of ourselves and strip ourselves of every carnal affection, we shall accomplish nothing in this respect.
For who can fulfill the duties Saint Paul requires of love unless he has renounced himself so that he may devote himself entirely to his neighbors?
Love is patient and kind. It is neither envious nor boastful; it is not proud or insolent. It does not seek its own.
—1 Corinthians 13:4–5
If there were only this single requirement—that we must not seek our own advantage—we would still have to exert great force against our nature. For it draws us so strongly toward self-love that it does not easily permit us to neglect what benefits us in order to seek the welfare of others, much less to surrender our rights and yield them to our neighbors.
To bring us to this disposition, Scripture teaches that every gift we have received from the Lord has been entrusted to us on the condition that we employ it for the common good of the Church. Therefore, the lawful use of God's gifts consists in sharing them lovingly and generously with our neighbors.
No better or more certain rule for such sharing could be found than this: everything good we possess has been entrusted to us by God on the condition that it be administered for the benefit of others.
Scripture proceeds still further by comparing the gifts possessed by each of us to the particular functions of the members of the human body. No member possesses its ability for itself or applies it merely to its own private use. Instead, it employs that ability for the benefit of the other members and receives no advantage from it except that which proceeds from the benefit shared throughout the whole body.
In the same manner, a believer must devote all his powers to his brethren, making no private provision for himself except while keeping his intention continually directed toward the common welfare of the Church.
Let us therefore observe this rule in doing good and exercising kindness: whatever the Lord has given us by which we may assist our
neighbor, we are merely its stewards, and we must one day give an account of how faithfully we have discharged our trust.
Furthermore, there is no good or proper stewardship except that which is governed by the rule of love. From this it will follow that we shall not merely unite concern for our neighbor's welfare with concern for our own, but shall subordinate our own advantage to that of others.
Indeed, to show us the proper manner of administering what he gives us, the Lord long ago commended this principle to the people of Israel. Whenever he bestowed even the smallest benefit upon them, he commanded that the firstfruits of the new harvest be offered to him. By this the people testified that they were not permitted to enjoy any fruit from possessions that had not first been consecrated to him.
If God's gifts are finally sanctified to us only after we have consecrated them to him with our own hands, it is evident that any use which is not directed toward such consecration is a damnable abuse.
On the other hand, it would be foolish to attempt to enrich God by giving him something from the possessions entrusted to us. Since our beneficence cannot reach God himself, as the Prophet says, we must exercise it toward his servants who are in the world.
My goodness does not extend to you, but to the saints who are upon the earth.
—Psalm 16:2–3
Furthermore, lest we grow weary in doing good—as would otherwise continually happen—we must remember what the Apostle adds: love is patient and is not easily provoked.
Love is patient and kind . . . it is not easily provoked.
—1 Corinthians 13:4–5
The Lord commands us, without exception, to do good to everyone, although most people are unworthy if judged according to their own merits. But Scripture anticipates this objection by reminding us that we must not consider what men deserve in themselves. Rather, we must contemplate the image of God in everyone, to which we owe all honor and love.
We must recognize this image especially in those who belong to the household of faith, since it has been renewed and restored in them by the Spirit of Christ.
As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.
—Galatians 6:10
Therefore, whoever the person may be who comes before us needing our assistance, we shall have no reason to refuse to help him.
If we say that he is a stranger, the Lord has impressed upon him a mark which ought to make him familiar to us.
If we allege that he is contemptible and worthless, the Lord replies that he has honored him by causing his own image to shine in him.
If we say that we owe him nothing, the Lord tells us that he has placed that person in his own stead so that, in doing good to him, we may acknowledge the benefits God has bestowed upon us.
If we say that he is unworthy for us to take even one step on his behalf, the image of God which we are to contemplate in him is altogether worthy of our devoting ourselves and everything we possess to his service.
Even if he were a person who not only deserved nothing from us but had also inflicted many injuries and outrages upon us, this would still be no sufficient reason for us to cease loving him and rendering him kindness and service.
If we say that he has not deserved such treatment from us, God may ask what he himself has deserved from us. For when he commands us to forgive men the offenses they have committed against us, he takes those offenses upon himself.
This is the only way by which we can attain something not merely difficult to human nature but altogether contrary to it: loving those who hate us, returning good for evil, and praying for those who slander us.
Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat and persecute you.
—Matthew 5:44
We shall attain this, I say, if we remember that we must not dwell upon the wickedness of men but rather contemplate the image of God in them. By its excellence and dignity, that image can and ought to move us to love them and to blot out all the faults that might turn us away from doing so.
This mortification of self will truly prevail in us when our love is complete. Such love consists not merely in performing all the outward duties that belong to it, but in performing them with a sincere affection of friendship.
A person may render his neighbor everything he owes him with respect to outward duty and yet remain far from fulfilling his duty as he ought.
We see many who desire to appear exceedingly generous, yet give nothing without reproaching the recipient, either by a proud expression or an arrogant word.
In our present age, we have reached such a miserable condition that most people give no alms without adding an insult. Such perversity should not have been tolerated even among pagans.
The Lord requires something very different from Christians: that they give with a joyful and cheerful countenance and make their generosity gracious through kindness and gentleness.
First, they must put themselves in the place of the person who needs assistance. They must have compassion upon his condition as though they themselves felt and bore it, and be moved by the same merciful affection to help him as they would themselves.
A person possessing such a heart will not only refrain from contaminating his kindness toward his brethren with arrogance or reproach; he will neither despise the recipient because of his poverty nor seek to bring him into subjection as though he were personally indebted to him.
In the same way, we do not insult one of our bodily members when the rest of the body labors to relieve it, nor do we imagine that it has incurred a special debt to the other members because it has occasioned them more trouble than it has borne for them.
For the assistance which the members render one another is not regarded as a gratuitous favor but rather as the payment and satisfaction of what is owed by the law of nature.
By this means we shall also gain another benefit: we shall not imagine ourselves released and discharged from all further duty merely because we have fulfilled it in one particular respect, as people commonly suppose.
When a rich man has given something from his possessions, he frequently sets aside and neglects all his other obligations as though they did not concern him. On the contrary, everyone should recognize that he owes his neighbors everything he possesses and everything within his power. He must place no limit upon his obligation to do them good except where his ability fails. So long as that ability extends, it must be governed by love.
Let us now consider the other part of self-denial, which concerns God. We have already spoken of it in various places, and it would be unnecessary to repeat everything that has been said. It will be
sufficient to show how it should bring us into submission, patience, and gentleness.
First, in seeking the means of living peacefully and at ease, Scripture continually brings us back to this point: resigning ourselves and everything belonging to us to God, we must submit the affections of our hearts to him so that they may be tamed and subdued.
We possess a furious intemperance and an unbridled desire for reputation and honor, for acquiring power, accumulating wealth, and gathering everything that appears conducive to pomp and magnificence. Conversely, we greatly fear and hate poverty, lowliness, and disgrace, and therefore flee from them with all our strength.
For this reason, we see how troubled in spirit are all those who order their lives according to their own counsel; how many schemes they attempt; and how many ways they torment themselves in order to attain the objects toward which ambition and greed carry them and to avoid poverty and a low condition.
Therefore, if believers wish to avoid becoming entangled in these snares, they must follow this course.
First, they must neither desire, expect, nor imagine any means of prospering except through the blessing of God. They must therefore rest and rely securely upon it.
Although the flesh imagines itself fully capable of attaining its purpose—whether it aspires to honors and riches through its own skill, exerts its own efforts to obtain them, or receives assistance
from human favor—it is nevertheless certain that all these things are nothing. Neither our ingenuity nor our labor can ever profit us except insofar as the Lord causes both to prosper.
His blessing alone, on the contrary, will find a way through every obstacle and grant us a favorable outcome in all things.
Moreover, even if we could obtain some honor or wealth without his blessing—as we daily see the wicked attain great riches and high positions—nevertheless, wherever God's curse rests, not a single drop of happiness can be enjoyed. Therefore, unless his blessing rests upon us, everything we obtain will turn to our misery.
It would be sheer madness to desire anything that can only make us miserable.
Therefore, if we believe that every means of prospering rests in the blessing of God alone, and that without it nothing awaits us but misery and calamity, our duty is not to pursue riches and honors with excessive desire, trusting in our own ability, diligence, human favor, or fortune. Rather, we must always look to God so that, under his guidance, we may be led into whatever condition seems good to him.
From this it will follow that we shall not strive to draw riches to ourselves or seize honors by right or wrong, by violence, deceit, or any other crooked means. We shall seek only those advantages that do not turn us away from innocence.
For who could expect God's blessing to assist him while he commits fraud, robbery, and other wicked acts? Since that blessing attends
only those who are upright in their thoughts and actions, the person who desires it must thereby be restrained from all iniquity and evil designs.
Furthermore, it will serve as a bridle to restrain us from burning with a disordered desire to become rich or striving ambitiously to exalt ourselves. For what shamelessness would it be to imagine that God should help us obtain what we desire contrary to his word? Far be it from him to advance by the grace of his blessing what he condemns with his own mouth.
Finally, when events do not occur according to our hopes and desires, this consideration will restrain us from breaking forth into impatience and cursing our condition. For we shall recognize that to do so would be to murmur against God, by whose will poverty and riches, contempt and honors, are alike distributed.
In sum, whoever rests in God's blessing, as has been said, will not pursue by wicked and crooked means any of those things which men crave with furious desire, knowing that such means could profit him nothing.
If prosperity comes to him, he will not attribute it to his diligence, ability, or fortune, but will acknowledge that it comes from God.
On the other hand, if he makes little progress while others rise according to their desires—or even if his condition declines—he will nevertheless bear his poverty more patiently and moderately than an unbeliever would bear moderate wealth that fell short of what he desired.
For the believer possesses a consolation in which he can rest more contentedly than in all the riches and honors of the world, even if they were gathered into a single heap: he regards everything as ordered by God in the manner most conducive to his salvation.
Believers must not preserve such patience and moderation only in this particular matter, but extend it to all the circumstances to which this present life is subject.
Therefore, no one has properly renounced himself unless he has so resigned himself to God that he willingly permits his whole life to be governed according to God's pleasure.
Whoever possesses such a disposition will never regard himself as miserable, whatever may happen, nor complain of his condition in a manner that indirectly accuses God.
How necessary such a disposition is will become apparent if we consider how many calamities we are subject to. A thousand diseases continually trouble us, one after another. At one time pestilence torments us; at another, war. At another, frost or hail brings barrenness and consequently threatens us with poverty. At another, death deprives us of wives, children, and other relatives. Sometimes our house is consumed by fire.
These things cause men to curse their lives, abhor the day of their birth, detest heaven and the light, speak evil of God, and—as they are eloquent in blasphemy—accuse him of injustice and cruelty.
The believer, on the contrary, must behold even in these things the mercy of God and his fatherly kindness. Though he sees himself
bereaved by the death of all his relatives and his household left desolate, he will not cease to bless God. Rather, he will turn his thoughts to this: since the grace of God dwells in his house, it will not permit that house to remain desolate.
Though his crops and vineyards are ravaged and destroyed by frost, hail, or some other tempest, so that he foresees the danger of famine, he will not lose heart or become discontented with God. Rather, he will persevere in firm confidence, saying within himself, "Nevertheless, we remain under the protection of the Lord; we are the sheep of his pasture. Therefore, however severe the barrenness may be, he will always provide what we need to live."
Though he suffers the affliction of disease, he will not be so overwhelmed by pain that he breaks forth in impatience and complains against God. Rather, by considering the righteousness and goodness of his heavenly Father in chastening him, he will thereby be trained in patience.
In short, whatever may happen, knowing that everything proceeds from the Lord's hand, he will receive it with a peaceful and grateful heart, lest he resist the command of him to whom he has once committed himself.
Above all, let that foolish and miserable consolation of the pagans be far removed from the Christian heart: that adversities should be attributed to fortune so that they may be borne more patiently. For the philosophers reason that it would be foolish to become angry with fortune, since she is reckless and blind, casting her darts at random and wounding good and evil alike without distinction.
The rule of godliness, on the contrary, is that the hand of God alone directs and governs both prosperity and adversity. It does not act with thoughtless violence, but dispenses both good and evil according to a well-ordered justice.
Yet the believer's disposition must rise still higher—to the point to which Christ calls all his followers: that each should bear his cross.
For all whom the Lord has adopted and received into the company of his children must prepare themselves for a hard and laborious life, full of toil and innumerable kinds of suffering. It is the good pleasure of the heavenly Father to exercise his servants in this way, that he may put them to the test.
He began this order with Christ, his firstborn Son, and continues it toward all his other children. For although Christ was his beloved Son, in whom he was always well pleased, we nevertheless see that he was not treated softly or delicately in this world. Indeed, it may be said not only that he was continually afflicted, but that his whole life was nothing other than a kind of perpetual cross.
How, then, can we exempt ourselves from the condition to which Christ our Head was obliged to submit, especially since he submitted to it for our sake, that he might give us an example of patience? The Apostle therefore declares that God has appointed this end for all his children: that they should be conformed to his Christ.
From this we receive a singular consolation: that by enduring all the miseries commonly regarded as adverse and evil, we share in the cross of Christ, so that, just as he passed through an abyss of
suffering to enter into heavenly glory, we likewise may arrive there through various tribulations.
For Saint Paul teaches that when we experience within ourselves a participation in Christ's sufferings, we likewise apprehend the power of his resurrection; and that when we are made partakers of his death, we are thereby prepared to enter into his glorious immortality.
How powerful this is to sweeten every bitterness that may be found in the cross! For the more we are afflicted and endure misery, the more certainly our fellowship with Christ is confirmed. When we share in him, adversities are not only blessed to us, but also serve as aids by which our salvation is greatly advanced.
Moreover, the Lord Jesus had no need to bear the cross and endure tribulations except to testify to and prove his obedience toward God his Father. But for many reasons it is necessary that we should be continually afflicted in this life.
First, because we are naturally too inclined to exalt ourselves and attribute everything to ourselves, unless our weakness is visibly demonstrated to us, we immediately form an excessive estimate of our own strength and do not doubt that it will prove invincible against every difficulty that might arise. From this comes a vain and foolish confidence in the flesh, which afterward incites us to grow proud against God, as though our own ability were sufficient without his grace.
He cannot better subdue this presumption than by showing us through experience how much weakness—and even frailty—there is
within us. Therefore, he afflicts us with disgrace, poverty, sickness, the loss of relatives, or other calamities. Left to ourselves, we immediately succumb to these things because we possess no strength to bear them.
Then, having been humbled, we learn to implore his power, which alone enables us to stand firm beneath the weight of such burdens. Even the holiest believers, although they know that their steadfastness rests upon the Lord's grace and not upon their own strength, still become too secure in their own courage and constancy unless the Lord brings them to a more certain knowledge of themselves by testing them through the cross.
While everything remains peaceful, they flatter themselves with the thought that they possess great courage and constancy. But when shaken by tribulation, they discover that this confidence was hypocrisy.
In this way believers must be made conscious of their infirmities, so that they may grow in humility, cast aside every perverse confidence in the flesh, and entrust themselves entirely to the grace of God. Once they have done so, they experience the presence of his power, in which they find more than sufficient strength.
This is what Saint Paul means when he says that tribulation produces patience, and patience, proven character. For believers experience the truth of the Lord's promise to assist them in tribulation when they persevere patiently, sustained by his hand—something they could never do by their own strength.
Patience, therefore, proves to the saints that God truly gives the help he has promised whenever it is needed. By this their hope is also strengthened, since it would be the height of ingratitude not to expect for the future that faithfulness of God which they have already experienced to be firm and unchangeable.
We now see how many benefits proceed from the cross in one continuous sequence.
For by overthrowing the false opinion we naturally conceive of our own strength, and by exposing the hypocrisy that seduces and deceives us with its flatteries, the cross casts down that confidence in the flesh which was so destructive to us. Then, having thus humbled us, it teaches us to rest in God, who, being our foundation, does not permit us to fall or lose heart.
From this victory arises hope, because the Lord, by fulfilling what he has promised, confirms his faithfulness for the future. Even if these were the only reasons, it is evident how necessary the discipline of the cross is for us.
For it is no small benefit that the self-love which blinds us should be removed, so that we may rightly know our weakness; that, having rightly perceived it, we may learn to distrust ourselves; that, distrusting ourselves, we may transfer our confidence to God; that, relying upon God with assured confidence of heart, we may persevere victoriously to the end through his help; that, standing firm in his grace, we may know him to be true and faithful in his promises; and that, possessing certain knowledge of those promises, our hope may thereby be strengthened.
The Lord has yet another reason for afflicting his servants: to prove their patience and train them in obedience. Not that they can possess any obedience other than that which he has given them, but he is pleased in this way to display and bear witness to the graces he has placed within his believers, so that they do not remain idle and hidden within them.
Therefore, when he brings forth the patience he has given his servants, he is said to put their patience to the test. Hence the expressions that he tested Abraham and knew his godliness because Abraham did not refuse to sacrifice his son in order to obey him.
Saint Peter therefore says that our faith is tested by tribulation no less than gold is tested in the furnace.
—1 Peter 1:7
Who will deny that it is fitting for so excellent a gift, which the Lord has bestowed upon his servants, to be put into use so that it may become known and manifest? Otherwise, it would never be valued as it ought to be.
If, then, the Lord has good reason to provide occasion for the virtues he has placed within believers to be exercised, so that they neither remain concealed nor become useless, we see that it is not without cause that he sends afflictions, without which their patience would have no exercise.
I also say that by this means he trains them in patience, since they thereby learn not to live according to their own desires but according
to his pleasure. Indeed, if everything happened as they wished, they would never know what it means to follow God.
The pagan philosopher Seneca tells us that it was an ancient proverb, when someone was being exhorted to endure adversity patiently, to say, "We must follow God." By this they meant that a man truly submits to the Lord's yoke only when he permits himself to be chastened and willingly offers both hand and back to his rods.
Now, if it is right that we should render ourselves obedient in every way to our heavenly Father, we ought not to refuse his training us in that obedience by every means possible.
Yet we still do not perceive how necessary this is unless we consider how intemperately our flesh casts off the Lord's yoke as soon as it has been treated with a little indulgence. The same thing happens with unruly horses: after remaining idle and well fed in the stable for some time, they can scarcely afterward be broken, and no longer recognize the master whose control they formerly accepted.
In short, what the Lord complains happened to the people of Israel is commonly seen in all men: when they have grown fat from being fed too richly, they kick against him who nourished them.
—Deuteronomy 32:15
God's generosity certainly ought to draw us to consider and love his goodness. But since our ingratitude is such that we are more often corrupted by his indulgence than encouraged to do good, it is more than necessary that he keep a tight rein upon us and hold us under discipline, lest we break forth into such insolence.
Therefore, lest an excessive abundance of possessions make us proud, lest honors fill us with arrogance, and lest the gifts we possess in body or soul produce insolence within us, the Lord anticipates the danger and provides the remedy. Through the medicine of the cross, he restrains and subdues the folly of our flesh. He does this in various ways, according to what he knows to be expedient and salutary for each person.
For we are not all equally sick, nor do we all suffer from the same disease; therefore, the same treatment is not suitable for everyone. This is why he exercises some under one kind of cross and others under another. Yet although, in providing for the health of all, he administers a gentler medicine to some and a harsher and more rigorous one to others, he leaves no one entirely exempt, because he knows that everyone is diseased.
Moreover, our good Father must not only guard against our infirmity for the future; it is also frequently necessary for him to correct our past faults so that he may preserve us in obedience to himself. Therefore, whenever any affliction comes upon us, we should recall our past life. In doing so, we will undoubtedly find that we have committed some fault worthy of such chastisement.
Nevertheless, the recognition of our sin should not be the chief ground of our exhortation to patience, for Scripture supplies us with a far better consideration when it says that the Lord corrects us by adversity so that we may not be condemned with the world.
—1 Corinthians 11:32
Therefore, amid the greatest bitterness of tribulation, we ought to recognize the mercy and kindness of our Father, since even then he does not cease to advance our salvation. For he afflicts us not to destroy or ruin us, but to deliver us from the condemnation of the world.
This thought will lead us to what Scripture teaches elsewhere:
"My son, do not reject the Lord's correction, nor become weary when he reproves you. For the Lord corrects those whom he loves and treats them as his children."
—Proverbs 3:11–12
When we are told that these corrections are a Father's rods, is it not our duty to submit as teachable children rather than resist like desperate men hardened in their wickedness? The Lord would permit us to perish if, when we have gone astray, he did not draw us back to himself through correction. As the Apostle says, if he does not keep us under discipline, we are illegitimate children and not true sons.
—Hebrews 12:8
We are therefore exceedingly perverse if we cannot bear with the Lord when he displays his favor toward us and his concern for our salvation. Scripture marks this difference between unbelievers and believers: the former, like slaves of old who were perverse by nature, only grow worse and harder under the whip; the latter, like well-born children, are led by correction to repentance and amendment of life. Let us now choose which of these we prefer to be. But since this
subject has been treated elsewhere, it will be enough to have touched upon it briefly here.
The highest consolation, however, comes when we suffer persecution for righteousness. For then we ought to remember what honor the Lord bestows upon us by giving us the insignia of his service.
By persecution for righteousness I mean not only suffering for the defense of the gospel, but also for upholding every just cause. Whether in defending the truth of God against Satan's lies, or in protecting the innocent against the wicked and preventing them from suffering wrong and injury, we may incur the hatred and indignation of the world and thereby place our reputation, possessions, or lives in danger. Yet we should not grieve at having devoted ourselves so fully to God, nor regard ourselves as miserable when he declares us blessed by his own mouth.
Poverty, considered in itself, is indeed misery. The same is true of exile, contempt, disgrace, and imprisonment; and death, finally, is the greatest calamity. But when God breathes his favor upon us, there is none of these things that he does not turn to our happiness and blessing. Let us therefore be content with Christ's testimony rather than the false judgment of our flesh.
Then, following the example of the Apostles, we will rejoice whenever he counts us worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. For if, though innocent and possessing a good conscience, we are deprived of our possessions through the wickedness of the ungodly, we are indeed impoverished before men, but our true riches before God are thereby increased.
If we are driven out and banished from our country, we are received all the more deeply into the Lord's household. If we are harassed and afflicted, we are all the more firmly established in our Lord by being driven to seek refuge in him. If we suffer reproach and disgrace, we are all the more highly exalted in the kingdom of God. If we die, the way is opened for us into the blessed life.
Would it not be a great shame for us to value the things the Lord has so highly esteemed less than the pleasures of this world, which immediately vanish like smoke?
Since Scripture thus comforts us in every disgrace and calamity we must endure for the defense of righteousness, we are exceedingly ungrateful if we do not bear them patiently and with a cheerful heart —especially since this kind of cross belongs to believers above all others, and through it Christ wills to be glorified in them, as Saint Peter says.
Yet God does not require from us a joy that removes every bitterness of sorrow.
Otherwise, the patience of the saints under the cross would amount to nothing unless they were tormented by pain and felt anguish when they were afflicted. Likewise, if poverty were not harsh and bitter to them, if they suffered no torment in sickness, if disgrace did not wound them, and if death did not fill them with horror, what strength or moderation would there be in despising all these things?
But since each of these carries its own bitterness, by which it naturally pierces every human heart, the strength of a believer is displayed when, though assailed by the sharpness of such suffering
and grievously distressed, he nevertheless resists, overcomes, and rises above it. His patience is manifested when, though provoked by that same anguish, he is nevertheless restrained by the fear of God, as by a bridle, from breaking forth into any excess. His joy and gladness appear when, though wounded by sorrow and pain, he nevertheless rests content in the spiritual consolation of God.
The struggle believers sustain against the natural sense of pain, while pursuing patience and moderation, is very well described by Saint Paul in these words:
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we suffer poverty, but are not left destitute; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are struck down, but do not perish."
—2 Corinthians 4:8–9
We see that patiently bearing the cross does not mean becoming entirely insensible and feeling no pain, as the Stoic philosophers foolishly portrayed the courageous man of old: one who, having stripped himself of his humanity, would be no more affected by adversity than by prosperity, no more by sorrowful things than by joyful ones—or rather, who would be as unfeeling as a stone.
And what did they accomplish by this lofty wisdom? They painted an image of patience that has never existed among men and never can exist. Indeed, by seeking a patience that was too refined, they deprived mankind of its actual practice.
Even now, there are similar people among Christians who regard it as a fault not only to groan and weep but even to grieve and feel
anxiety. Such inhuman opinions generally proceed from idle men who exercise themselves more in speculation than in putting their hands to the work, and therefore can produce nothing but such fantasies.
For our part, we have no use for this harsh and rigorous philosophy, which our Lord Jesus condemned not only by his words but also by his example. He groaned and wept both over his own sorrow and out of compassion for others, and he taught his disciples no differently:
"The world will rejoice, but you will be sorrowful; it will laugh, but you will weep."
—John 16:20
And lest anyone should regard this as a fault, he pronounces those who mourn blessed.
—Matthew 5:4
This is no wonder. For if all tears are condemned, what judgment shall we make of the Lord Jesus, from whose body drops of blood fell? If every fear is branded as unbelief, what shall we think of the horror by which he was so profoundly overwhelmed? How shall we approve his confession that his soul was sorrowful even unto death?
I have said these things to preserve all godly hearts from despair, so that they may not abandon the pursuit of patience merely because they have not been entirely freed from the natural feeling of sorrow.
Those who make patience consist in insensibility, and turn a strong and steadfast man into a block of wood, must inevitably lose heart
and fall into despair when they attempt to practice patience.
Scripture, on the contrary, praises the saints for endurance when they are so afflicted by the severity of their sufferings that they are not thereby broken and made to faint; when they are so pierced with bitterness that spiritual joy remains with them; and when they are so oppressed by anguish that they nevertheless continue to breathe, rejoicing in the consolation of God.
Meanwhile, this conflict takes place within their hearts: their natural feeling flees from and abhors everything opposed to it, while the affection of godliness draws them through these difficulties into obedience to the will of God. Christ expressed this conflict when he said to Saint Peter:
"When you were young, you girded yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go."
—John 21:18
Certainly, it is not likely that Saint Peter, when he was to glorify God by his death, was dragged to it by force and against his will; otherwise, his martyrdom would deserve little praise. Nevertheless, although he submitted to God's ordinance with a willing and joyful heart, he had not ceased to be human and was therefore divided between two inclinations.
For when he considered the cruel death he was to suffer, being terrified by its horror, he would willingly have escaped it. Yet when he considered that he was called to it by God's command, he
presented himself willingly and even joyfully, trampling every fear beneath his feet.
Therefore, if we desire to be disciples of Christ, we must strive to fill our hearts with such reverence and obedience toward God that they may tame and subdue every affection opposed to his good pleasure. Then, whatever tribulation we may undergo, and however great our anguish of heart, we will nevertheless steadfastly retain patience.
Adversities will always possess their sharpness and continue to wound us. When afflicted by sickness, therefore, we will groan, complain, and desire health. When pressed by poverty, we will feel the stings of perplexity and anxiety. Disgrace, contempt, and every other injury will likewise wound our hearts. When one of our relatives dies, we will render to nature the tears that are its due.
Yet we will always return to this conclusion: "Nevertheless, God has willed it; therefore, let us follow his will." Indeed, this thought must enter amid the pangs of pain, the tears, and the groans, so that it may bring our hearts to bear cheerfully the very things by which they are so deeply grieved.
Since we have derived the principal reason for bearing the cross well from the consideration of God's will, we must briefly define the difference between Christian and philosophical patience.
Very few philosophers have risen so high as to understand that men are exercised by God's hand through afflictions and that we must therefore submit to his will. Yet even those who have reached this point offer no other reason than necessity. But what does this mean except that we must yield to God because every effort to resist him
would be useless? For if we obey God only because we must, then whenever escape becomes possible, we will cease to obey him.
Scripture, however, requires us to consider something very different in the will of God: first, his righteousness and equity; and then, his concern for our salvation. Christian exhortations therefore proceed in this manner:
Whether poverty, banishment, imprisonment, disgrace, sickness, the loss of relatives, or any other adversity torments us, we must consider that none of these things happens except by the will and providence of the Lord. Moreover, he does nothing except according to a well-ordered justice.
For what? Do not the sins we commit daily deserve to be chastised a hundred thousand times more harshly and severely than they are? Is it not right that our flesh should be subdued and trained to the yoke, lest it wander into the intemperance toward which its nature inclines? Are not the righteousness and truth of God worthy of our suffering for their sake?
Since God's equity is plainly displayed in all our afflictions, we cannot murmur or rebel without committing injustice. We do not hear here the cold refrain of the philosophers, that we must submit because it is necessary, but a living and powerful admonition that we must obey because resistance is unlawful. We must embrace patience because impatience is rebellion against the will of God.
And since nothing is truly desirable to us except what we recognize as good and salutary, the Father of mercies also comforts us in this
matter by assuring us that, when he afflicts us with the cross, he is providing for our salvation.
If tribulations are salutary to us, why should we not receive them with a peaceful and grateful heart? Therefore, in bearing them patiently, we are not merely yielding to necessity but resting content in that which is for our good.
These thoughts, I say, will cause our hearts to be enlarged with spiritual joy in proportion as they are constrained by the natural bitterness of the cross. From this will also proceed thanksgiving, which cannot exist without joy.
Now, since praise of the Lord and thanksgiving can proceed only from a joyful and cheerful heart, and yet must not be hindered by anything in the world, it is evident how necessary it is that the bitterness of the cross should be tempered by spiritual joy.
Moreover, whatever kind of tribulation may afflict us, we must always keep this end in view: that we should become accustomed to despising the present life and thereby be stirred up to meditate upon the life to come.
For since the Lord knows very well how inclined we are toward a blind and even brutish love of this world, he employs a most suitable means to withdraw us from it and awaken us from our sluggishness, lest our hearts become too firmly attached to such a foolish love.
There is none of us who does not wish to appear as though, throughout the whole course of life, he aspires to heavenly immortality and strives to attain it. For we are ashamed to possess
no excellence above brute beasts, whose condition would be no worse than ours if no hope of eternity remained for us after death.
But if the plans, deliberations, undertakings, and works of each person are examined, nothing but earth will be seen in them. This dullness arises because our understanding is dazzled by the false brilliance that riches, honors, and power display in their outward appearance, and thus cannot see beyond them.
Likewise, our heart, being occupied with greed, ambition, and other evil desires, is so firmly attached here below that it cannot look upward. Finally, the whole soul, enveloped and entangled in fleshly pleasures, seeks its happiness upon the earth.
Therefore, to remedy this evil, the Lord teaches his servants the vanity of the present life by continually exercising them under various miseries. So that they may not promise themselves peace and rest in this life, he permits it frequently to be disturbed and troubled by wars, tumults, robberies, or other injuries.
So that they may not aspire with excessive desire to perishable riches, or rest content in those they already possess, he reduces them to poverty—sometimes through the barrenness of the land, sometimes through fire, and sometimes by some other means—or else confines them to a moderate estate.
So that they may not take excessive pleasure in marriage, he either gives them harsh and headstrong wives who torment them, gives them unruly children to humble them, or afflicts them by taking away their wives and children.
If he treats them gently in all these things, nevertheless, lest they become proud through vainglory or exalt themselves in disordered confidence, he warns them through sicknesses and dangers, setting almost visibly before their eyes how frail and fleeting are all possessions subject to mortality.
We therefore profit greatly under the discipline of the cross when we learn that the present life, considered in itself, is full of unrest and trouble, altogether miserable, and in no respect truly happy; and that all its highly valued goods are transient and uncertain, frivolous, and mingled with innumerable miseries.
From this we conclude that we must seek or expect nothing here but conflict, and that when the crown is in view, we must lift our eyes toward heaven. For it is certain that our hearts will never earnestly rise to desire and meditate upon the life to come unless they are first moved to despise this earthly life.
There is no middle way between these two extremes: either the earth must become contemptible to us, or it will hold us bound by an intemperate love of itself. Therefore, if we possess any concern for immortality, we must strive diligently to disentangle ourselves from these evil bonds.
Now, since the present life always possesses many delights with which to attract us and has a great appearance of pleasantness, grace, and sweetness with which to entice us, we greatly need to be drawn away from it hour by hour, lest we be deceived and, as it were, bewitched by such flatteries.
For what would happen, I ask you, if we enjoyed perpetual happiness here, seeing that even when continually pierced by so many spurs, we still cannot be sufficiently awakened to recognize our misery? Not only do learned men acknowledge that human life is like a shadow or smoke, but this is also a common proverb among ordinary people.
Because men saw that this was a most useful truth to know, they celebrated it in many fine sayings. Nevertheless, there is nothing in the world that we consider more carelessly or remember less.
For we undertake all our affairs as though we had established our immortality upon the earth. If a dead person is being buried, or if we find ourselves in a cemetery among the graves, because we then have an image of death before our eyes, I confess that we philosophize very well about the frailty of this life—although even this does not always happen, for sometimes these things scarcely move us at all.
But when it does happen, it is a fleeting philosophy that vanishes as soon as we turn our backs, leaving no memory behind. For having forgotten not only death but also our mortality, as though we had never heard of either, we fall back into complacency and a foolish confidence in earthly immortality.
If someone meanwhile quotes to us the ancient proverb that man is a creature of a day, we readily acknowledge it, but with so little thought that the conviction remains firmly rooted in our hearts that we are to live here forever.
Who, then, will deny that it is absolutely necessary for us—not merely to be admonished, but to be convinced by every possible experience—how miserable man's condition is with respect to this
earthly life? For even when we have been convinced of it, we can scarcely cease admiring this life so greatly that we are almost stupefied by it, as though it contained all happiness within itself.
Since it is necessary for the Lord to instruct us in this way, our duty is to heed the admonitions by which he awakens us from our carelessness, so that, despising the world, we may aspire with all our hearts to the contemplation of the life to come.
Nevertheless, believers must accustom themselves to such contempt for the present life as produces neither hatred of it nor ingratitude toward God. For although this life is filled with innumerable miseries, it is nevertheless rightly numbered among the blessings of God, which are not to be despised.
Therefore, if we recognize no grace of God in it, we are guilty of great ingratitude. To believers especially, it ought to be a testimony of the Lord's favor, since it is wholly appointed to advance their salvation.
For before fully revealing to us the inheritance of immortal glory, the Lord wills to declare himself our Father in lesser things—namely, in the benefits we receive daily from his hand. Since, therefore, this life serves to make known to us the goodness of God, shall we regard it as though it possessed no good at all?
We must therefore possess such a judgment and disposition as to regard it as a gift of divine kindness that ought not to be rejected.
For even if the testimonies of Scripture were lacking—which they certainly are not—nature itself would still exhort us to give thanks to
God because he created us and placed us in this world, preserves us in it, and supplies everything necessary to sustain us here.
Moreover, there is an even greater reason for gratitude if we consider that he is preparing us here for the glory of his kingdom. For he has ordained that those who are to be crowned in heaven must first fight upon earth, so that they may not triumph until they have overcome the difficulties of warfare and obtained the victory.
Another consideration also carries great weight: here we begin to taste the sweetness of his kindness in his benefits, so that our hope and desire may be stirred up to seek its full revelation.
Once we have established that this earthly life is a gift of divine mercy, for which we are indebted to God and ought to be grateful, it will then be time to consider its miserable condition, so that we may free ourselves from that excessive attachment to which, as we have shown, we are all naturally inclined.
Whatever we take away from the disordered love of this life must be transferred to the heavenly life.
I readily confess that those who judged the highest good to be never to have been born, and the second best to be dying quickly, reasoned well according to their human understanding. For since they were pagans, deprived of the light of God and true religion, what could they see in this earthly life except misery and horror?
Nor was it without reason that the Scythians wept at the birth of their children, while rejoicing and holding a solemn feast whenever one of their relatives died. Yet this profited them nothing. For
because they lacked the true doctrine of faith, they did not perceive how that which is neither blessed nor desirable in itself is turned to the salvation of believers. Therefore, the conclusion of their judgment was despair.
Let the servants of God, then, always keep this purpose in view when estimating this mortal life: seeing that it contains nothing but misery, they should become freer and better prepared to meditate upon the future and eternal life.
When they compare the two, they will be able not only to regard the present life lightly but even to despise it and esteem it as nothing in comparison with the life to come.
For if heaven is our homeland, what is the earth but a place of exile and banishment? If departing from this world is an entrance into life, what is this world but a grave, and what is remaining in it but being submerged in death? If being delivered from this body is freedom, what is the body but a prison? And if our supreme happiness consists in enjoying the presence of God, is it not misery to be deprived of it?
Now, until we depart from this world, we remain, as it were, far from God. Therefore, if earthly life is compared with heavenly life, there is no doubt that it may be despised and regarded almost as refuse.
It is true that we must never hate this life except insofar as it holds us under bondage to sin—although, strictly speaking, even this should not be imputed to life itself.
Whatever the case, we must become weary and dissatisfied with it in such a manner that, while desiring to see its end, we remain
prepared to continue in it according to God's good pleasure, so that our weariness may remain free from all murmuring and impatience.
For this life is like a station in which the Lord has placed us and in which we must remain until he calls us away. Saint Paul indeed laments his condition because he is detained, as though bound in the prison of his body, longer than he would desire, and he sighs with an ardent longing to be delivered.
—Romans 7:24; Philippians 1:23
Nevertheless, in order to submit to God's will, he declares himself ready for either life or death, because he knows that he owes it to God to glorify his name, whether by living or by dying. It belongs to the Lord to determine what is expedient for his glory.
Therefore, if we must live and die to him, let us leave both our life and our death to his good pleasure. At the same time, however, let us always desire death and meditate upon it continually, despising this mortal life in comparison with the immortality to come and desiring to renounce it whenever the Lord pleases, because it holds us in bondage to sin.
Yet it is a monstrous thing that many who boast of being Christians, instead of desiring death, hold it in such horror that as soon as they hear it mentioned, they tremble as though it were the greatest calamity that could befall them.
It is no wonder if our natural sense is moved and terrified when we hear that the body must be separated from the soul. But it is altogether intolerable that there should not be enough light within a
Christian heart to overcome and suppress this fear, such as it is, by a far greater consolation.
For if we consider that the tabernacle of our body—weak, defective, corruptible, frail, and tending toward decay—is taken down and, as it were, demolished so that it may afterward be restored in perfect, enduring, incorruptible, and heavenly glory, will not faith compel us ardently to desire what nature flees from and abhors?
If we consider that through death we are recalled from a miserable exile to dwell in our homeland—indeed, our heavenly homeland— shall we not derive singular consolation from this?
But someone will object that all things desire to continue in their existence. I acknowledge it. For this very reason, I maintain that we must aspire to the immortality to come, where we will possess a settled and enduring condition such as appears nowhere upon earth.
Is it right that brute beasts, and even insensible creatures down to wood and stones, possessing as it were some awareness of their vanity and corruption, should await the day of judgment to be delivered from it, while we—having first some natural understanding and then being illuminated by the Spirit of God—should fail, when our very existence is at stake, to lift our eyes above this earthly corruption?
—Romans 8:19–22
But it is not my intention to argue at length here against so great a perversity. Indeed, I declared at the outset that I did not intend to treat every subject here in the form of an extended exhortation.